


The Nightmare before Christmas

by bayouen



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Nagamas 2020, i didnt mean to put gaius/libra i swear to god i dont know what happened, other characters pop up - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28535430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayouen/pseuds/bayouen
Summary: Henry and Nowi celebrate Halloween the best way they can. Whether or not they god the memo that it's Christmas eve, we'll never know.
Relationships: Henry/Nono | Nowi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	The Nightmare before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for sparxpunx on twitter o/

It was the festive holidays and Chrom decided the shepherds needed a break.

After the war with the Mad King, peace reigned in Ylisse for the moment. But only for a moment. The threat of a conquering force out in Chon’sin forced Chrom and his army out again. After numerous strenuous battles, they group found themselves back in a busy town to rest.

The snow dusting the village bathed it in a white glow. Houses were decorated from top to bottom and pedestrians gathered around each other singing songs and sharing gifts. It was close to the holiday of gift-giving and merriment was all around.

Which is why Ricken wondered why his two friends were dressed head to toe in Halloween affair.

“Who doesn’t want treats?” Nowi said, layered in a witch hat and robes. She carried a dusting broom covered in fake spiderwebs. Or was it real? Ricken hoped not.

“Halloween already past!”

“We’re just celebrating early!” Henry replied, dressed as a vampire with a coffin in tow.

“But it’s Christmas!”

“You wanna join us?” Nowi extended her hand towards Ricken with a goofy smile on her face.

He responded by wrapping a scarf around her open neck.

“Just…try to stay warm you too, it’s cold,” Ricken felt more like a mother than a friend, but gave the two a wave before walking away. He watched the two link arms together and walk off.

Henry and Nowi were always together. Nowi was a girl with boundless energy and wondered why no one could understand or come close to matching her. However, when she met Henry, they found themselves clicking immediately. 

They bonded through the realization of their shared past: Alone, abandoned, undesirable. The pair became quick friends, much to the dismay of the rest of the shepherds. Any sort of playtime for Nowi ended in the group gasping for air. There were pranks littered all over the campsites, and after having someone (usually Sumia) end up in one of them, the two found themselves in from of Fredrick giving them both a scolding. Most of the shepherds ended up exhausted with just Nowi, but the two of them?

They’re a threat to behold.

“Trick of treat!”

“It’s…Christmas.”

Robin looked at the two oddly. She saw empty candy bags and the bright smiles of the pair and sighed.

“This is a prank, right?”

“How rude!” Nowi said, puffing her cheeks. Her pranks were better than this thank you very much.

“This is serious! We want candy!”

“You better coffin it up, Robin!” Henry snickered.

“I don’t think anyone has candy,” Robin said, gazing at the numerous colored houses, “at least nothing other than candy canes, I guess.”

“Well then that means we’ll just have to trick,” Nowi smiled mischievously.

“No tricks!” Robin said, folding her arms.

“Aww…” they both sighed.

Robin sighed. She was not one to shy away from mischief, but even she can have limits.

“Why don’t the two of you join Chrom and I to decorate the-hey!”

The pair ran off in another direction before Robin could get another word.

“Great,” Robin whispered, hoping nothing would come of this.

“Trick of treat!”

“Huh?” Gaius stretched and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He stared with a raised eyebrow at the duo.

“It’s Christmas.”

“Treats never take a holiday,” Nowi said like it was a fact.

“That’s…” Gaius paused, “You know what, you’re right.”

“You candy-cide to join us for some sweets, you know~” Henry sung.

Gaius thought for a moment. This seemed like a stupid idea from the get-go. Who would actually have candy ready for trick or treaters during this time?

But Gaius was bored, and any excuse to get free candy was a plus.

“Trick or Treat!”

“It’s-” Libra stopped and stared, “Gaius, really?”

“Free candy.”

Libra sighed.

"You should come with us," Gaius said, "it beats stringing around crap on a tree." Libra looked at him insulted. He very much like decorating.

“Come on, join us, it’s fun!” Nowi tugged on the man’s extravagant robes. Libra looked at her then to the others with pleading eyes. "You already have a costume."

"These are my robes-"

“Yeah, you already look like an angel.”

“Gaius!” Libra felt his face heat up.

“Yeah, you don’t even need to dress up, you can wing it! Hehe!”

“That’s a good one Henry!” Nowi peeped.

“Fine, fine,” Libra gathered his things and brushed his hair back, “if anything else, I should keep an eye on you three.”

The winds were cold. The air was fresh and crisp. The foursome walked around singing songs and gathering candy from the surprised villagers. They seemed like a family to the untrained eye. After running around in the snow for what seemed like hours, Gaius found himself collapsing on a nearby bench.

“Regretting your choices?”

“Yeah…”

Gaius spent a minute catching his breath while Nowi stood by upset.

“Common….” She whined, “we just started, and we barely have any candy!”

“Yeah, stopping right now is snow fun!” Henry chuckled as he heard Gaius groan.

Libra smiled and sat next to Gaius. “You two can can continue, we’ll wait here.”

"Fiiiiine, let's go then," Nowi said and she led the way with Henry in tow.

Gaius whispered a silent thanks to Libra as the twosome went off.

As the snow fell and the moon brighten the sky, Nowi and Henry found themselves playing in the snow and eating the little candy they received (mostly from Gaius). There were lines of snowmen (all with vague resemblance to the shepherds) and manic footprints interlocking in the snow. Henry felt a sneeze fall out of him so Nowi wrapped her scarf around him.

“Hehe, thanks!” Henry smiled.

Henry watched Nowi kick the fresh snow around as they continue walking. As they walked, Nowi noticed there were families singing and gathering around brightly lit trees. The serene images became memories of a forgotten past. A nostalgia far out of reach, but always there.

Nowi found herself staring up at the sky with a smile.

“It’s really nice,” she said. Her nose was red from the cold.

“I never did anything like this before,” Henry admitted, “I usually spent this time freezing and pulling needles out me!”

He said it so frankly that it could’ve been taken as a joke.

But she knew it wasn’t.

“I never had anyone to play with for so long,” Nowi whispered. Henry looked at her and thought he saw the lingering shines of sadness in her eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as he saw it.

“So, I’m really glad you joined me, Henry!” Nowi leaped into his arms and felt herself spinning around with him. It felt nice to have someone hug him like this. The only familiarity came from the beasts that shared their bed with Henry in his youth.

“I’m glad you wanted to trick or treat with me,” Nowi squished her cheek on Henry’s, basking in the warmth.

“Yeah, we missed the actual holiday so we had to make it up somehow.”

“Henry,” Nowi turned to him with sudden seriousness.

“Huh?” Henry tilted his head quizzically. He found a cold pair of lips on his own.

“Thank you,” Nowi said shyly.

Henry found his face warming up before giving her a goofy grin. "Well that's surprising!"

The two continued to walk together and play in the snow. They went home (or were dragged back because of Libra) to the warmth and comfort of the other shepherds as they partied and ate the night away. In the morning, when everyone woke from the grogginess of sleep, they were greeted to Henry and Nowi, arm in arm, asleep by the fireplace, comforted in the warmth of family and in each other.


End file.
